Asian Para Games 2023 Medal Tally: India Ends In Fifth Spot With 29 Gold; China On Top

Weeks after India breached the 100-medal mark in the Asian Games for the first time, the country's para athletes replicated the feat - even bettered it - at the Asian Para Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China. India ended its campaign with an unprecedented 111 medals - 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze. This was the country's best-ever medal haul at any major multi-sport event. (Full coverage | More Sports News)

A 313-strong Indian contingent, the country's biggest-ever, easily eclipsed the medal haul of the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, where India had bagged 72 medals -- 15 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze.

Asian Para Games 2023 medal tally (Updated on October 28, 6pm)

India's Day-wise medal winners
Indian contingent kickstarted its Asian Para Games 2023 on a bright note. India kicked things off with a silver medal in the women's canoe VL2 event. Para athlete Prachi Yadav became the first medalist for India at the Para Asian Games with a time of 1:03.147. Soon, more medals followed as 29-year-old Pranav Soorma broke the Asian Para Games record with an effort of 30.01m to clinch the gold with Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) clinching silver and bronze, respectively.

Besides that, three Indians also finished 1-2-3 in the Men's high jump T63 Category but as per Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) rules, only gold and silver are awarded. Shailesh Kumar grabbed the gold with an Asian Para Games record jump of 1.82m while Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) clinched silver. Nishad Kumar won India's third gold of the day in men's high jump T47 class as he cleared a height of 2.02m while compatriot Ram Pal took the bronze with an effort of 1.94m.

India's fourth gold came from para shooter Avani Lekhara, who broke the Games record of 247.0 in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Stand SH1 Final as she recorded 249.6 points. In the men's 5000m-T11 category, India's Ankur Dhama grabbed the fifth gold of the day at the Asian Para Games.

On the second day, canoeist Prachi Yadav and quarter-miler Deepthi Jeevanji clinched a gold each as India's medal rush continued. It was Prachi's second medal, following a silver the previous day, and her husband Manish Kaurav too bagged a canoe bronze. 

Sharath Makanahalli Shankarappa later won gold in the Men’s 5000m-T13 category to raise India’s gold medal tally to nine. But it was India’s Neeraj Yadav, Yogesh Kathuniya and Muthuraja, who swept the men’s discus throw-F54/55/56 podium as India stood with 10 gold medals. Sharath Shankarappa Makanahalli's gold was initially counted and included in India's medal tally. But the number of India's gold medals was reduced to nine as there were only two competitors in the event. Under the Asian Paralympics Committee rulebook, it is up to the technical delegate to award medals in cases where there are fewer than three competitors.

On Day 3, India bagged a whopping 30 medals. It was the most productive day for the country, with 17 out of the 30 medals and all the six gold coming from athletics. Reigning Paralympics champion Sumit Antil bettered his own javelin throw F64 world record with a stunning 73.29m effort on way to winning gold. Another Indian, Pushpendra Singh, won the bronze medal with a throw of 62.06m.

Ankur Dhama became the first Indian to win two gold medals in a single edition of the Asian Para Games as he clinched the top spot in men's T11 1500m race with a time of 4:27.70. He had also won a gold in men's men's T11 5000m race on Tuesday.

Day 4 was a historic one for India, as the country went past the 72-medal mark with ease, making it India's most medals at any Asia Para Games edition ever. The day ended with India aggregating 82 medals, with two more days to go. India won three gold on Thursday, and 18 medals overall.

Sachin Sarjerao Khilari won the first gold of the day in men's F46 shot put with a Games record throw of 16.03m while Rohit Kumar took the bronze with 14.56m. Para shooter Sidhartha Babu then bagged another gold in R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event as he shot an Asian Para Games score of 247.7. The compound mixed team of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar won a gold after defeating their Chinese counterparts Lin Yueshan and Ai Xinliang 151-149 in the final.

On Day 5, the penultimate day, India bagged 17 medals, including seven gold, to take its tally to 99. Teenaged para archer Sheetal Devi clinched the women's individual compound gold on Friday to add to the yellow metal she won in the compound mixed team event on Thursday. 

Reigning Paralympic champion shuttler Pramod Bhagat too secured a gold medal in the single SL3 category as he outplayed compatriot Nitesh Kumar 22-20, 21-19 in the final. Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist IAS officer Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj bettered his bronze from the last edition by winning gold in the SL4 final.

On the sixth and final day of the event, India added 12 medals, including four gold. Seven medals came from chess, four from athletics and one from rowing. Neeraj Yadav began the day for India with a gold in men's javelin throw F55 with a Games record of 33.69m. Compatriot Tek Chand clinched a bronze with a personal best of 30.36m in the same event.

Dilip Mahadu Gavit added another athletics gold winning the men's 400m T47 race with a time of 49.48 seconds. The chess players saved the best for the last with a seven-medal day, including two gold. India swept all the three medals in men's individual rapid VI-B1 event with Satish Inani Darpan winning gold while Pradhan Kumar Soundarya and Ashwinbhai Kanchanbhai Makwana bagged silver and bronze respectively. The trio also bagged the team gold.